The All-Time Dream Team

After writing the Super Conference blog, I wanted to do another sports list that I thought may generate a little discussion. And since I've been thinking about the NBA a lot lately, I wondered what would be my all-time NBA Dream Team. But since some others disagreed with some of the SuperCon selections, I thought I'd solicit some input for the All-Time Dream Team.

I emailed a handful of friends a few days ago, asking for their teams. The rules- everyone had to pick their own 15-man roster, and designate a first, second and third team. They didn't HAVE to fill it out with a specific PG-SG-SF-PF-C lineup, though they were encouraged to at least keep that in mind. No statistical analysis was required, but their own input on who they wanted or didn't want based off their own opinion was definitely factored in. I sent them all a link to Bill Simmons' top 96 players from his Book of Basketball if they wanted to use that as a starting point. Other than that, pretty much no rules.

Within 48 hours, I had 5 responses, plus my own. To put together the final list, a player received 5 points for each 1st team selection, 3 points for 2nd, 1 point for 3rd. In total, 29 different players made someone's team. Only three players made it onto one of everybody's team, and only one player was a unanimous first team selection.

To start things off, I'll give you my personal selection, then list the players who received votes, then everyone else's selections and comments, and finally, Gary and Friends' NBA Dream Team.

MY SELECTIONS
1st TEAM
PG- Magic
SG- Michael Jordan
SF- Larry Bird
PF- Bill Russell
C- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

2nd Team
PG- Bob Cousy
SG- Jerry West
SF- Oscar Robertson
PF- Tim Duncan
C- Hakeem Olajuwon

3rd Team
PG- John Stockton
SG- Ray Allen
SF- Scottie Pippen
PF- Charles Barkley
C- Shaquille O'Neal

I don't think the first team needs any explanation. The most inconsistent position as far as voting went was Center, and I'm ok with Kareem, though not THAT ok with it. Could've gone 5 different directions there. For the 2nd team, I gave Cooz the nod over Stockton because there was definitely bias toward more recent players in my list, so I felt bad and gave the old guy the nod. Again, with the others you can't argue too much against. My third team could draw the most discussion outside of Stockton. I picked Ray Allen because the team needed one guy who can just shoot the lights out, and as a Knick fan, I couldn't take Reggie. I went with Scottie at SF because he was such a nasty defender, and could also provide some offense. I was surprised that I was the only one who gave him a vote. I've always loved Barkley, and thought he could stir the pot. Plus, he was so good on the 92 Dream Team, that that could refute arguments against him being bad for the team. And Shaq received three first place votes from others, so I'm not outlandish for his inclusion.

My tough omits were Wilt, Kobe, Nash, Isiah, Iverson, Dr. J and Rodman. I'm not a fan of Kobe, so he's out. Iverson wouldn't take well coming off the bench, even for this team. Could've put Dr. J over Scottie, but again wanted Pip's D. With Russell, Kareem, Olajuwon, Duncan and Shaq, Wilt becomes expendable. Honestly, the guy I wanted to include was Rodman because he wouldn't care at all about points, and just snag boards all day. But I couldn't kick the others off to put him in. So there's my list.

Now, the list of others receiving votes, starting with my 15. Magic, MJ, Bird, Russell, Kareem, Cousy, West, Oscar, Duncan, Hakeem, Stockton, Allen, Pippen, Barkley, Shaq, LeBron, Dr. J, Wilt, Reggie, Dirk, Karl Malone, Dwight Howard, Kobe, Isaiah, John Starks, Patrick Ewing, Steve Nash, Dwyane Wade and Kevin Garnett. Not a bad list.

Before getting to the final list, here are my friends' lists, with some explanations tossed in. (Disclaimer: I'm copy/pasting from emails, and not held responsible for their spelling errors!)
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Jeff 'Porkchop' Franklyn's list:

Just an FYI, I probably can’t have Larry Bird and MJ23 for all 15 spots, so I guess Ill follow the rules…

1st Team:
G-Magic Johnson
G-MJ23
F-Larry Bird
F-Bill Russell
C-Shaq

2nd Team:
G-Oscar Robertson
G-Kobe
F-Jerry West
F-Tim Duncan
C-Kareem

3rd Team
G-John Stockton
G-Isiah Thomas
F-Julius Irving
F-Karl Malone
C-Hakeem Olajuwon

16th spot: Ed Cota
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David Vincent Carmelo Anthony Giudice's List

Here's my list. I had to split up Jordan, Bird, and Magic because they shouldn't be on the same team.

Ewing was obviously headlining the first team. Then I got to thinking, if Ewing is on the squad, let's get Malone and Stockton their first rings as well. Best way to do that is to have Jordan and Oscar Robertson on there. Also, there is a clear alpha dog. Robertson and Stockton passed the ball. Malone would rather ride a horse than take a final shot. And Ewing would defer to Jordan.

I tried to go with the alpha dog thing onthe second team with Bird being the man. This team would win the rebounding battle against any team. They might struggle defensively, but I don't see a way that they don't score 300 points with Nash running pick and rolls with anyone else on the team.

For the third team I had Magic and Wilt, so I figured I should go all Lakers. I think this team would implode and brawl on the court. I want to see that. Kareem would absolutely punch Kobe within 3 minutes. Poor Jerry West.

First Team
John Stockton
Michael Jordon
Oscar Robertson
Karl Malone
Patrick Ewing

Second Team
Steve Nash
Dwayne Wade
Kevin Garnett
Larry Bird
Hakeem Olajuwon

Third Team
Magic Johnson
Jerry West
Kobe Bryant
Wilt Chamberlin
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
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Dan 'Wish my last name was Majerle' Ekonen's List:
I did this before looking at Simmons. Let me know what you think. This was off the top of my head with little research, so i'm sure i'm forgetting a few.

First Team
Robertson
Jordan
Magic
Bird
Shaq

The drill: Alot of people will put magic at point here, however how many players have ever AVERAGED a triple double for a season in the NBA???? Oscar Robertson is one of the most underrated players ever. Shaq might also be controversial, sure wilt scored 100 and kareems the greatest scorer ever, but could either of them handle shaq in the post? he's the most dominant big man of all time. Big men are the key to this. They are hard to pick thru, still have kareem, wilt, hakeem, Duncan, Ewing, Russell.

Second Team
Stockton
Kobe?
Lebron - hate to admit it
Duncan
Russell
Stockton get's it done, Kobe is still debatably one of the best in the league in his 30's. When my buddy and i did this we had every reason not to put lebron on these lists, then we started looking at it and were like, who was a better 3-man, you really can't find one as good as him. Sucks he's on there but you really can't argue it. If you are asking me this in 5 years i'm putting Durant on there ahead of him, he's going to be one of the best ever. Timmy's the best 4 man ever, Russell has more championships than Jesus.

Third Team
Zeke
John Starks
Barkley
Kareem
Wilt

Big-time players, make big-time plays in big-time games... enter John Starks. this team needs one thing to compete, a hangnail player that is intense. There's nothing worse than having a hangnail and nothing worse than playing against Starks. Do you really see Jerry west putting up 20 against him? Isaiah is the man at the point, i'm partial being a michigander but he was tough. Barkley could straight out ball, had no business being that tough at 6-5 (maybe). Kareem and Wild deserve theirs. Can't argue them. Now that i look at this team, we have one volatile star after the next. Can you imagine what the locker room atmosphere was like here after a playoff loss. The funny thing is, if i take starks out, i'd consider having Iverson in there LOL.

The ones i hate to leave off are cousy, west, Ewing, the dream. Maybe you did this, but are we going to have an all white boy team? (Note: Yes, we will be doing that)
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Kenny 'Tex' Norris's List:

Aight, GareBear…here is my list.

I first thought I would lean towards older players because they played at a time when there was such a thing as defense. Then I thought about the fact that players these days have a lot more pressure on them and role players are better these days so it takes extra talent to have the spotlight.

First Team

PG – Bob Cousy (we did “Cousy” drills growing up in my school. He had Magic’s moves before Magic had Magic’s moves)
G – Michael Jordan (although not a very good bball executive, he was a great competitor and the clutchest player in the game)…yes, clutchest!
G – Larry Bird
F – Tim Duncan (the most boring greatest player on the list)
C – Olajuwan (maybe some UH and Houston Rocket biased, but he was awesome to watch in his day. Only Center I know who broke ankles consistently)

Second Team

PG – Magic
G – Lebron (if his brain could catch up with his skills, he will be scary)
G – Julius Erving
F – Bill Russell (yeah, yeah he has so many championships)
C – Wilt Chamberlain

Third Team
PG – John Stockton (greatest PG to never win a title)
G – Reggie Miller (greatest shooter the league has ever seen)…yes better then Ray Allen, I don’t care what the records say
G/F/C – Dirk (maybe a little premature, but he was crazy in the last playoff run)
F – Karl Malone (I hate Karl Malone, but wouldn’t feel right leaving John Stockton on this squad without him)
C – Dwight Howard (his only knock is his offense, but on this team he doesn’t need it)

People that would absolutely not make my list!

1.Allen Iverson: Complete Idiot and thug! Him winning a championship would have been a disgrace. He is everything about basketball that I am not

2.Dennis Rodman: Complete Idiot and horrible at basketball. He was a great rebounder and that is it!

3.Shaq: Not good enough at basketball to make my list. He was big and an athlete, but have very little basketball skills

4.Tracy McGrady: Having to watch him in Houston were some of the worst years of my bball life. He is horrible and the worst clutch player I have ever watched.

I will add the disclaimer that I did zero research and went completely from the hip, however I stand by my opinion. : ) (his smiley face, not mine)
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Travis 'I'mnevergoingtoletGarylivedownthetimehewokeupfromdrunkensleepandproclaimedAtleastI'mnoNancyLieberman' Haskins' List:

Team 1
PG-Magic
SG-Jordan
SF-Bird
PF-Shaq
C-Russell

Team 2
PG- Oscar
SG- Kobe
G-West
PF-Hakeem
C-Karim

Team 3
PG-Lebron
SG-Julius Erving
SF- Barkley (just wanted to put small in front of his name)
PF- Duncan
C- Wilt
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There you have em, lists from me and five friends. As mentioned, only one unanimous first-team selection (MJ), and only three who made everyone's lists (MJ, Magic, Bird). Not really a shocker there. The most curious inclusion has to be Starks, but I love it and am now somewhat jealous I didn't find a way to work Oakley onto the team. After totaling up all the points, here are our final Dream Teams:

1st Team
MJ
Bird
Magic
Russell
Oscar

2nd Team
Shaq
Hakeem
Duncan
Kareem
Stockton

3rd Team
West
Cousy
Kobe
LeBron
Karl Malone

Now, if you look at these teams, everyone appears like they legitimately deserve to be considered for an all-time list. But if we were looking to really fill out an actual roster and actual line changes if you will, that second team would be pretty funny to watch. John Stockton (and his short shorts) just running the floor dishing it to four seven-footers.

So, for argument's sake, let's say that we need to fill out the team with everyone reasonably playing within one spot of their natural position. Which means our first team can stay intact. Magic at point, MJ at shooting guard, Oscar at small forward, Bird bumps from a 3 to 4 at power forward, and Russell plays Center. I had him listed as a PF, which he would probably be today, but was a center in his day.

For the 2nd team, Stockton stays at point, West gets bumped up from 3rd team to play SG (he had the same amount of points as Kobe, but I bump him up, continuing by Kobe dislike), Duncan plays SF. Duncan's listed position has varied between PF and C, so I counted him as a PF. If we count him as a Center, he can't slide two spots... and then we bump up Karl Malone from the third team. I feel like Duncan is a more realistic SF. I digress. Hakeem plays PF, and Shaq C.

Our 3rd team on the adjusted Dream Team has Cousy at point, Kobe shooting guard, LeBron at SF, Malone at PF, and Kareem at C. Pretty nice third team.

In all, we didn't need to adjust the lineups all that much for them to actually make sense.

And so there you have it, your All Time Dream Team. If you disagree with the outcome, leave a comment, or don't and just concede defeat.

Another fun list to make, thank you guys for your input!

And for today's video, we include highlights from the person on the list you are least likely to have ever seen play if you are reading this blog. Complete with really cheesy music, but without a 3-point line.



Slainte,
Gary